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Dear Devs, Queer Romances

Apologies if my writing isn't particularly concise here, I just wanted to voice a concern I have.

Some background first. I've been playing Pathfinder for probably close to 7 years, so while I missed the Kickstarter phase of this project, I instantly went and pre-ordered my copy of this game. I had just finished playing Dragon Age: Origins for the first time, and loved the idea of being able to play Pathfinder in a similar vein.

Now, about 25 hours into the game, I've conquered various dungeons, avoided areas I learned about from other players (like the linnorm), so I started looking into the romance options. I understand that, as a person who enjoys story content, I probably should have looked into this sooner, but the game was honestly a lot of fun, so that part of me got sidetracked by the kingdom building, the lovely adventuring and swooning at Amiri. So, after some digging, I found the list of romanceable characters: Valerie for men, Tristian for Women, and Octavia or Regongar for either. As a queer woman, I enjoy representation as much as anyone else, so when I saw the name Octavia, I went "Haven't met her yet, I wonder where she is..." Did a bit more research, and then became VERY DISAPPOINTED. I understand that this style of games revolves around being well-informed and well-prepared, sometimes even restarting and looping back playthroughs to get the optimal situation. I've save-scummed my way through a couple of fights already.

BUT, that does not excuse the ONLY queer romance options being available ONLY in the first Act of the game AND only if you get a random encounter AND finish the additional quest. The heterosexual romance options are given to you relatively easily (Valeria before you even leave the intro level in most cases), so I find this, while not exactly discriminatory, at the very least suspect. Especially given that the romance options were a tier given for the Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2285648), so I'd hope for a little bit better execution. Now, if it turns out that the encounter is still available after Act 1, I would be more okay with this, but from some research (https://steamcommunity.com/app/64082...6911761080851/), it seems that is not the case.

That's not the only forum post I found, but it raises a good point- If the encounter is only available in Act 1, there are other story options available that would necessitate a complete rewrite or undue work on part of the devs. Steam user Axiomofanarchy says "While it might be weird for them to try to enslave you once you're the baron, that doesn't mean those companions should be completely unavailable. There ought to be alternative events/encounters for later acts which allow you to acquire Octavia and Regongar; the league might, for example, try to convince you to permit slavery in your lands and offer them in trade, or, perhaps, thanks to a runaway slave running into one of your patrols, you might get word from an advisor that there are slavers moving through your lands and choose to liberate their captives."

TL;DR- I love this game, kinda weird the only queer romances you can have require fore-knowledge and many hoops to jump through. Not a bug, or something that needs fixing, just something I think needs addressing.
Thank you for your hard work

Technic League is not a random encounter. It happens when you head into the N. Narlmarches. It may not happen right away but it will happen.
While you encounter Valerie in the Prologue, you meet her for... 5 minutes? About that? and then you can lose her until you progress on your other quests.

You don't really get any companions until chapter 1, and you don't fill out the party until midway through chapter 1.

I've run through the first chapter nigh on 30 times now, possibly more. I have never missed recruiting Octavia and Regongar. How much time have you spent in the forest? Did you kill Tuskgutter? Have you tried restarting and replaying the first chapter in case there was a bug on the previous run through?

I killed Tuskgutter. As far as exploration- I found the spooky house to the west of Oleg's, and two other POI's- the one right after the S in North Narlmarches, and the one directly above the "north" of the label, with quite a few of the spaces in between.

I'll admit I let the time limit get the better of me and didn't spend as much time as I should have goofin' around.

And my mistake with the timing of the other companions, it's been some time since then.

If it was simply that I didn't go exploring enough, then I will admit my mistake. Research I did made the event seem more random than that, and it being locked to Act 1 did not reassure me.

Does not negate my point tho that it's weird that the straight people are just handed to you on story quests and these guys you have to find (even if it is easy)

Just do a little more movement around the thorn ford. Go find 3-Pine Islet as you need it for the Necklace of Double Crosses and you'll encounter the Technic League travel event.

And again, none of the companions are handed to you. You have to make an alignment decision in the prologue, or succeed at a persuasion check (not guaranteed at all on higher difficulties) and if you end up leaning more Chaotic you might not get Valerie at all in the first chapter, or you might miss out on Tristian for the first chapter if you pursue Tartuccio.

Play through the opening chapter more and you'll see that its actually very flexible in its own limited way.

My mind is blown every time I see someone upset by the implementation of romance in a video game.

I'm not sure precisely what triggers the technic league encounter, but it shouldn't be difficult for you to miss. For me it happened after I chased down Tartuccio and picked up one of the companions that joined him. Have you done that?

I actually did not know that you CAN miss that encounter (Technic League). But yes, missing some of the 11 companions would make me feel bad allso. I guess it is possible to miss Jubilost and Ekundayo allso.

Games are made for everyone. Heterosexual couples and homosexual couples are both well represented in-game.
Hows about we focus on helping guide people through all the hoops to end up where they'd like instead of trying to close doors?